On Sunday, 10 September, people across Australia wore red fancy-dress outfits and ‘walked as one’ to raise awareness and much needed funds for kidney health.

Over 4,000 people attended walks with enthusiasm for ‘stepping it up for kidneys’. More than $200,000 was raised for kidney health; an all-time record for our annual walk attendance and fundraising.

In 2017, registrations almost doubled as new and experienced participants joined walks hosted in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Launceston and Adelaide, as well as community-initiated walks across the country. For the first year, dogs were invited to attend accompanying their owners.

‘Walking as one’ was an significant theme in 2017 Big Red Kidney Walk, with one participant reflecting that the highlight of the event was “seeing other people with the same challenges, of all ages…coming out and supporting each other”.

This year, we encouraged walk participants to share their stories of 'Why I Walk’. The stories illustrate the dedication that family, friends and health professionals share for people living with kidney disease and their loved ones. Stories show the diversity and similarities of our kidney community, such as “Our son was born with stage 4 kidney disease. We want to walk together and raise funds and awareness…”, “Im an indigenous person of Australia, I have lost family members from renal failure”, and “I am living with kidney cancer and not giving up”.

With 1 in 3 Australians at an increased risk of kidney disease, we are incredibly grateful for everyone who supported 2017 Big Red Kidney Walk, including participants, walk sponsors and volunteers.